Between the Lines
by lovergirl.ns
Summary: Massie is heartbroken and never wants to fall in love again. Ever. But she realizes that even if she tries to stay away from love, it'll find its way to her somehow.
1. Chapter 1

It was a rainy Sunday afternoon in the noisy New York City. I had just finished working on a layout for a client, and was staring out the window, when I saw him. He had on a light grey hoodie with dark wash jeans, his hands stuffed in his pockets. I moved closer to the window as he walked past my penthouse building on 5th Avenue.

It had been a whole year since I had last seen him. A whole 6 months since he had last contacted me. But even in that stretch of time a glimpse of his face had me longing for him. Why did that happen? Why was it that whenever you were ready to move on, you had pretty much forgotten the past, that it came slamming back? It knocked right into you and took your breath away. Why was that? I sighed and felt the familiar burning in my eyes. I closed my eyes as I wiped the single tear off my face.

I walked away from the window and towards my bedroom. I was meeting the girls for an early dinner and then heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a gallery showing today. I stepped into my walk-in closet and surveyed my clothes. It was cold outside so I opted for a black mesh bandage dress, a cream brown Vivienne Westwood peacoat, dark black stockings, and a pair of nude platform heels. I put my hair up in a stylish bun, slipped on my Michael Kors hoops and did my makeup with a smokey eye. For a pop of color I grabbed my red Fendi tote and headed out the door.

As I took the elevators to the lobby I put on a bit of Chanel perfume and swiped on some red lipstick. When I got out of the elevators, I walked towards the revolving doors, pulling my coat tighter against my body. When I got outside I hailed a cab, and when one finally stopped, I made a run for the door. It was still sprinkling outside and I so did not want to get my hair wet.

"Cafe Boulud." I told the driver as I slid onto the seat. He nodded and took off towards

76th street. It took about 10 minutes to get there in traffic, and as I stepped out I could see the lights in the popular cafe. I handed the cabbie his money and told him to keep the change. He gave me a crooked smile and took off. I walked into the cafe and went over to the reception desk.

"How may I help today?" A lady who's name tag read 'Taylor' asked me. "I'm here with Alicia Rivera." I replied.

"Oh, you must be Miss Massie Block. Please follow me, they are waiting for you." She grabbed a menu of the desk and lead me towards the back of the cafe into one of the private dining rooms. I smiled, it would be just like Alicia to reserve a private room.

I stepped inside and smiled as I finally saw my 4 best friends sitting at a table with lit candles and fine china splayed on it. "Massie!" Claire Lyons squealed. The rest of the girls looked up and jumped up as they saw me. Soon, I was engulfed by the arms of Dylan Marvel and Kristen Gregory. Alicia and Claire soon followed. I laughed and hugged them all back. I was glad to get away from work for once and spend a night with my best friends.


	2. Chapter 2

"Eh m gawd!" Did you hear? Layne Abeley just got engaged!" Alicia said, putting aside her phone and excitedly looking up at the rest of us.

"What?" Claire said as she stopped forking her pasta into her mouth, "And she didn't tell me?" She set down her fork and humphed.

"Wait, who'd she get engaged to? It's probably some nobody none of us have ever heard of right?" Dylan asked.

"Dylan!" Kristen exclaimed.

"Guys, let Alicia finish," I chimed in.

"Thank you Massie." Alicia nodded towards me, " First of all, no one knows yet. I just found out from one of my sources. Secondly, it is not a nobody. In fact it's someone we know."

"Who is it? Alicia just tell us already!" Dylan said whiling reaching over and grabbing the bread off my plate.

Alicia giggled, "As of today, Layne Abeley is engaged to Dempsey Solomon!"

I whipped my head to Kristen and she looked at me. Then we burst out laughing. We had both at one point in our lives liked him. Kristen had even dated him, but now it was the past.

" I can't believe the both of them are getting married. It's hard to believe that Dempsey actually proposed to someone like Layne!" Dylan scoffed.

"Dylan!" Kristen and Claire chided.

"Layne is an amazing person. Just because she wasn't didn't wear designer clothes during school, does not make her any less of a person!" Claire huffed out.

Kristen nodded and looked at Dylan, "Things have changed Dylan. And I remember the last time we saw Layne, you actually loved the dress she was wearing. You were just too proud to compliment her."

"I did not!" Dylan scoffed.

I looked at her raised my eyebrow. "Fine," she grumbled, "I thought her dress was nice."

I laughed and picked up my spoon and sipped on my soup, "So are we still have the annual Christmas ball ladies?" I asked. They all squealed and nodded with enthusiasm.

"Okay, so we're gonna do it at the plaza this year, I'm assuming. Dylan, you take care of the catering, Alicia invitations, Claire music, Kristen you take care of the theme. I'll take care of our dresses and manage the event. Are we all good?"

The girls all nodded and began talking about who they were gonna take as their dates, and how drunk everyone would get. I laughed and joined in, feeling relaxed for the first time in weeks.

Sorry for the shortness! Hope you guys like it. Leave me a review :)


	3. Chapter 3

It was almost a month before our annual New Year's ball (I meant to say New Year's instead of Christmas in the last chapter. Sorry!), and I was swamped with work. I had yet to design the dresses that we were all going to wear while the other girls had started sending me confirmation emails of everything that was assigned to them. I had booked the Plaza hotel weeks ago and was glad that was one thing I didn't have to worry about. But being a designer was hard work, especially around the holidays. I had meeting everyday with women who wanted exclusive dresses made for their Christmas and New Year's day parties. It was exhausting. Just today I had met Kate Bosworth over lunch to go over the final design for her parents Christmas party they were throwing at their house in Beverly Hills. I had six other designs that needed to be finished and three dresses that needed a final fitting. And on top of that I was planning the New Year's ball. The past few years had really taken a toll on me. I had become one of the top fashion designer's in the state of New York, starting my own designer company, Empress. Now, at the age of 25 I was one of the most respected and sought after designers. Yet all that came with the fact that I barely ever got any sleep as I was absolutely absorbed in my work.

Speaking of which, where was my secretary? I hadn't seen her in the office all morning and she would usually greet me with the newspaper and a cup of steaming coffee. Weird. I walked outside and over to one of the desks of my employees.

"Jake, have you see Ahana?" I asked my web designer. He looked up from his computer and shook his head. "Sorry Miss Block, haven't seen her all day." I thanked him and walked back to my office. Looking out of the window on the 8th floor on which my office was I sighed. I picked up my cellphone and called Ahana. No answer. I frowned. She had never done this before. She was a very dedicated girl and would never leave her job unattended. I didn't even know if I had any meeting without her here.

I decided that if she wasn't here then there must be nothing else for the rest of the day. Ahana wasn't one to not inform me of my meetings. So I grabbed my purse and my phone and left the office. I texted the girls to see if they could meet me at the plaza in an hour. After getting positive replies I hailed a cab home to get changed.

When I stepped out of the cab I gasped. He was walking towards me. There was a girl walking next to him and I cringed as I saw them laughing. I quickly ducked into the lobby and prayed that he hadn't seen me. I gave a small smile to the doorman as I took the elevator up to my penthouse, my heart beating erratically against my chest. My brain was in overdrive. Why is he here? Why had he come back from London? Who was the girl with him? This was the second time I'd seen him in the past two months and I hoped that I would not have to see him ever again.

As I stepped out of the elevator, I felt a headache coming on. Since I had an hour before I met the girls to discuss party planning I decided to take a bubble bath. I walked into my huge bathroom and turned on the faucets off my ornate bath tub. I filled it to the brim with warm water and my favorite vanilla bath melt. I got in and felt the heat of the water surround me. I sighed in pleasure. Closing my eyes I envisioned designs for my upcoming dresses. Soon my mind was full of colors, patterns, and fabrics for my designs. It was enthralling.

Feeling much more relaxed, I drained the tub and wrapped myself up in a fluffy blue bathrobe. I walked over to walk in closet and rifled through the organized shelves and hangers. I decided to wear something comfortable as we were going to be working hard all day. I pulled on a silky pink tank top with a nude blazer, black skinny jeans, and nude flats. I patted some concealer under my eyes to hide my lack of sleep, swiped some peach lipstick and threw my hair into a messy bun. I looked at my watch and saw that it was almost 1. I only had 10 minutes to get to the Plaza. I quickly grabbed my phone, purse, and keys, and sped to the elevator. I walked out of the lobby and waved my hand to hail a cab. After failing to hail three cabs and I speed-dialed Claire.

"Hi Mass! Where are you?" She chirped when she picked up.

"Hey, Claire. I'm trying to get a cab, I might be a few minutes late. So hold the fort for me yeah? I'll see you in a bit."

We hung up saying bye and I lifted my hand again. But before I could could start waving it, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Need some help?" Asked a familiar voice. My eyes widened as I turned around.


End file.
